Preflight Planning Gets Safety Boost with FAA Weather Cams
- VectorView Tech
- Dec 27, 2023
- 3 min read
Safety-conscious pilots know that checking weather reports is part of any good preflight preparation. But even weather reports (e.g., METAR, TAF) cannot always capture the severity of weather at a particular location. That’s why FAA weather cameras can play such a critical safety role in preflight planning by providing near real-time visual weather information for go, no-go decision-making.
The FAA Weather Camera Program (WCAM) provides pilots with near real-time visual weather data at airports, mountain passes, and other strategic locations along air routes and areas with elevated accident rates. The WCAM images, paired with available textual weather information, provide a powerful tool to aid in flight decision-making. The program began in Alaska in 1999 after the FAA determined that pilots operating under visual flight rules would benefit from actual views of current weather conditions.
Today, the FAA provides over 600 camera sites to the aviation public throughout the United States with 230 FAA sites in Alaska. Another estimated 360 cameras operate in North America as third-party systems, such as those installed by NAVCanada and the states of Colorado and Montana.
FAA weather camera images are updated every 10 minutes, and there are multiple camera views available at each location.
“Our mission is to improve aviation safety and efficiency within the NAS [National Airspace System] and reduce weather-related accidents and flight interruptions,” says FAA Weather Camera Program manager Cohl Pope. “We do that by getting a near real-time picture of the weather into the pilot’s hands prior to flying.”
The program’s safety impact has been outstanding. Weather-related aircraft accidents dropped 85% in Alaska between 2007 and 2014 as 140 new FAA weather camera sites were added throughout the state, according to a MITRE study. The study also reported that the number of disrupted hours — when a pilot flies out and then turns around because of weather — dropped from 13,588 hours in 2008 to 5,129 hours in 2014, a 62% reduction.
With that success, Pope states the FAA plans to add 160 new camera sites throughout the continental United States and Alaska through fiscal year 2030.
“Hawaii has been a particular focus area because of tour helicopter accidents,” he says. “In response to a National Transportation Safety Board recommendation, 19 camera locations have been implemented in Hawaii, with a total of 26 planned for the state by the end of the next fiscal year,” Pope adds.
The United States Helicopter Safety Team (USHST), a government-industry safety group, announced its support for the FAA weather camera effort and advocated for its expansion during a summit in September 2023 at the Helicopter Association International headquarters in Alexandria, Va.
Pilot and USHST Co-Chair Chris Baur said he uses the cameras when he flies helicopters.
“In comparing current images with clear day images that contain known distances, it is reasonable to determine visibilities, [approximate] distances, and cloud heights,” says Baur. “The FAA, industry, and the National Weather Service should work collaboratively to create training to use weather cameras effectively, supporting both go and no-go decision-making by pilots and dispatchers.”
Baur also states that “the FAA must develop a comprehensive plan to create an impactful, realistic network of cameras in the contiguous 48 states, beyond the planned 160 new cameras.”
One way the FAA is working towards expanding the number of camera sites is with cost-reimbursable agreements with several state governments. Under these agreements, the weather camera program shares the design and technology for operating the cameras while the states install, own, and maintain the camera systems.
A recent example of expansion occurred last year in Maine where the FAA began hosting 18 camera sites with plans to add more. LifeFlight of Maine, which provides medevac service to the state, owns and maintains the camera sites. Josh Dickson, LifeFlight’s director of aviation services, said his goal is to have a camera at every airport in the state and at a few of the “pinch points” over higher terrain.
“We need to be able to see if a runway has been plowed,” says Dickson. “Is there a moose standing in the middle of the runway? Is there precipitation not showing up on the radar? Our cameras can tell us all of that.”
In addition to expanding in more states throughout the U.S., the weather camera program is also researching technological improvements that will introduce 360-degree camera capabilities.
Pilots can access the FAA weather camera system at weathercams.faa.gov. If you have any thoughts on how to advance aviation safety with weather camera technology or would like to suggest a camera site location, please email WCAMExp@faa.gov.
By Gene Trainor, FAA Rotorcraft Collective
